International Whaling Commission

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a special group that helps manage whaling around the world. It was created in 1946 to make sure there are enough whales and to manage the whaling industry in a fair way.

The IWC looks at rules that protect whales, decides which areas are safe for them, and sets limits on how many whales can be caught and when they can be caught.

The IWC also collects information about whale catches and supports research to learn more about whales. In 2018, the IWC agreed that its main goal is to protect whales and help them return to the numbers they had before people started hunting them a lot. Because of this, Japan decided to leave the IWC in 2018. Japan said it would stop whaling in some areas but would continue to hunt whales in its own waters.

Structure and membership

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was made by countries to help manage and protect whales. Its main job is to look at and change the rules that control whaling. These rules protect some whale species, create safe areas for whales, limit how many and what size whales can be caught, and set times and places for whaling.

The IWC is based in Impington, near Cambridge, England. It has three main committees: Scientific, Conservation, and Finance and Administration. Many countries are members of the IWC, and meetings can have very different opinions between countries that support whaling and those that do not.

Annual meetings

Members of the International Whaling Commission have met every year since 1949, with some extra meetings called special meetings.

In recent years, these meetings have gotten a lot of attention because of groups that are against whaling.

The IWC also holds occasional "special meetings." There were five of these between 1949 and 2007.

Starting in 2012, the main yearly meetings changed to happen every two years, but the science group still meets yearly.

IWC meeting in 2005

The International Whaling Commission meeting in 2005 was held in Ulsan, South Korea from 20–24 June 2005. During this meeting, members voted on several important topics. Three ideas from Japan were not approved:

• A suggestion to change how votes are done.
• A suggestion to bring back whaling for trade, which needed many votes to pass but did not get enough.
• A suggestion to end a protected area for whales, which also did not get enough votes.

Australia asked Japan to stop increasing the number of whales they say they are studying, saying this is really just whaling for trade. Japan says their work helps science. Because of these disagreements, Japan talked about leaving the group, but this would need approval from Japan's government.

IWC meeting in 2006

The International Whaling Commission meeting in 2006 was held from 16 June–20 June in St Kitts and Nevis. Countries that want to allow whaling tried to change rules about protecting whales, but these ideas were not approved.

Greenland decided to catch fewer fin whales after learning this might not be safe, which left them with less whale meat than they planned. They looked into catching other kinds of whales to make up for this.

Japan suggested changing rules to allow catching a few Minke whales, but this idea was not approved. Talks about protected areas for whales continued, and a suggestion to end one protected area was not approved. A suggestion from France for another protected area was not talked about with nearby countries first, so it was not voted on. The meeting ended with a vote that supported allowing whaling for the first time in many years, saying the stop on whaling is no longer needed.

1982 moratorium

In the 1970s, people started speaking out against whaling. In 1972, a big meeting suggested stopping whaling for ten years to help whale numbers grow. Reports showed that many whale species were in danger of disappearing.

By 1982, more countries that did not whale joined a group called the International Whaling Commission (IWC). They wanted to change the rules to protect whales better. In July 1982, the group voted to pause all commercial whaling starting in 1986. This decision was made to help whale populations recover.

Some countries, like Japan and Norway, disagreed with this pause. However, the rule was put in place to give whales a chance to grow in number again.

2018 Florianópolis Declaration

In September 2018, IWC members met in Florianópolis, Brazil. They talked about a plan by Japan to start whaling again, but they voted against it. Instead, they agreed that the IWC should focus on saving whales and letting their numbers grow back to what they were before people started whaling a lot. This agreement was supported by 40 countries, but 27 countries that support whaling voted against it.

Later in December 2018, Japan decided to leave the IWC. They said they would start whaling again in their own waters but would stop whaling in some areas like the Australian Whale Sanctuary.

Enforcement under the IWC

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a group of countries that work together. But the IWC cannot force anyone to follow its rules. Countries can leave the group or ignore rules if they do not agree with them. The IWC also cannot punish anyone for not following its decisions.

To help make sure rules are followed, some countries agreed to send observers to watch each other’s whaling activities. For example, Australia and South Africa watched each other’s whaling stations. Similar agreements were made between Canada, Iceland, and Norway in the North Atlantic, and between Japan and the United States in the North Pacific Ocean. These observers helped make whaling data more accurate.

Politics

There has been concern that disagreements between groups wanting to protect whales and groups wanting to use whales for food have created tension in the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Some experts believe changes to the IWC are inevitable and that whaling for human use will continue.

Conservationists argue that the IWC should focus more on issues like whales being hit by ships, pollution, climate change, and other pressures threatening whale species. However, they say these issues cannot be addressed until the disagreement over whaling is resolved.

IWC membership

The IWC was created to protect whale populations for future generations. It originally included only countries that hunted whales. But since the late 1970s and early 1980s, many countries that had never hunted whales have joined, including some landlocked nations like Switzerland and Mongolia. This change began when a leader of the World Wildlife Fund encouraged developed countries to support joining the IWC, which helped pass a ban on commercial whaling in 1986.

Since then, support for the ban has shifted from a strong majority to a more even split. Some countries that initially supported the ban are now voting with countries that support whaling. The debate over whaling continues, with countries on both sides lobbying for support based on their beliefs about conservation and sustainable use of resources.